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Knoephla Soup

A soup of German dumplings with butter, onion, potatoes, and cream.

From the Wikibooks Cookbook · 10 ingredients
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Why it works: Parsley and pepper match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 2% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 34,122 recipes. Both carry 4'-methylacetophenone, which smells bitter almond. The science ↓

Knoephla Soup

6–8

Ingredients

Directions

Make the broth

  1. Melt the butter in a large soup kettle over medium heat.

  2. Add the onion and sauté until onions are tender.

  3. Add the water and soup base.

  4. Bring to a rapid boil over high heat.

Cook the dumplings and potatoes

  1. Add the knoephla by dropping them into the boiling broth.

  2. Stir until they all float to the top, and cook until the dumplings are soft.

  3. Add the potatoes, then simmer over medium heat until dumplings and potatoes are done throughout.

Finish the soup

  1. Remove from heat.

  2. Add the cream.

  3. Season with parsley, salt, and pepper to taste.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

985Calories
50 gProtein
22 gFat
144 gCarbs

Counts 9 of 11 ingredients. The other 2 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 9 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Flour1 cup (125g) all-purpose455
Chicken100g cooked165
Potato1 medium (173g) baked161
Butter1 tbsp (14g)102
Cream1 tbsp (15ml) heavy51
Onion1 medium (110g)44
Black Pepper1 tsp ground (2.3g)6
Parsley1 tbsp chopped fresh (3.8g)1
Salt1 tsp (6g)0
Waternot in our table0
Soupnot in our table0

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.

Recipe from the Wikibooks Cookbook.

Steps grouped into stages for easier reading; the method is the source's own.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

  1. Parsley + peppertop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together34,122 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).

  2. Onion + potatotop 3% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together9,023 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  3. Potato + parsleytop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,855 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).

  4. Chicken + potatotop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,756 recipes

    Shared aroma: (z)-4-decenal (green, must).

  5. Butter + creamtop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together41,516 recipes

    Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Knoephla
Small flour dumplings that give the soup its hearty, chewy body.
Potatoes
Break down partly as they cook, thickening the broth and adding body.
Heavy whipping cream
Adds fat and richness, giving the broth a smooth, velvety texture.
Butter
Adds fat and flavor to the base where the onion softens.
Onion
Adds savory aromatic flavor as it softens in the butter.

The step that matters

Simmer the dumplings gently after adding the potatoes. Once the cream is added the soup should not be boiled hard, because high heat can cause dairy to separate and make the texture grainy. Keeping the cooking gentle also helps the dumplings and potatoes cook evenly through without breaking apart.

Swap the parsley

The recipe marks parsley as optional. How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (flour, chicken, onion, butter, potato, cream, pepper):

  1. Garlicfits better
  2. Thymefits about as well
  3. Parsleythe original
  4. Celeryfits about as well

Fit is the average pairing score against flour, chicken, onion, butter, potato, cream, pepper. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

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